Friends. Let us concentrate on the third virtue which the spiritual
aspirant requires, compassion. Here The Immortal Song says, “May my heat
bleed at the sight of the wretched, the cruel, and the poor. And may
tears of compassion flow from my eyes.”

Often
we are so involved in ourselves and in our own affairs, that we do not
think of the suffering of other people, or of plants and animals. Yet not
only a few saints and enlightened persons, but all of us must feel the
pain of other living beings and try to help them. Tears are only the
starting point of compassion! I say we must first care, and then care
for, and then try to change the customs and conditions that give rise to
such widespread suffering!

Not
only for those who are hurt, but also for the cruel who are causing the
pain must we have compassion! The word sin means “missing the mark.”
Nothing so misses the mark as violent deed. We must care for those whose
“missing the mark” is obvious to us and befriend them rather than putting
them down. Otherwise we shall be missing the mark ourselves.

Once
president Lincoln was returning to the White House, riding in his carriage
and dressed in his best, when he noticed a small pig by the side of the
road, mired in mud. It was squealing and squirming wildly, but all its
efforts merely drove it deeper into the mud. Lincoln ordered the coach to
stop, got out, and waded into the mire. He tugged and pulled until he
managed to free the pig. Upon his arrival home, his family and friends
noticed the mud all over his clothes, and while he went to change them,
the coachman explained what had happened. When the President reappeared,
everyone flocked around him, praising him for his kindness. He told them,
“Please save your Praises. When I saw this little creature in such
distress, it was as if there were a thorn driven into my own heart. And
so I plucked it out. Therefore, it was really my own pain that I eased by
helping that pig. “This is compassion! Albert Schweitzer said, “We all
belong to the fellowship of pain. “If we have compassion, in today’s
world it will lead us to choose a simple life style. We must think
constantly of those who not only enjoy none of the fruits of technology,
but also lack even food for themselves and their children. Our lack of
concern contributes to their material deprivation.

Here in
this city a friend of mine saw a very old man begging. My friend had the
impulse to give the old man something, but found that he had left his
money at home. He went up to him and told him “I am really sorry I cannot
give you any money, because I find I have left my wallet at home. But I
wish to offer you my hand and tell you how much it pains me to see you
going hungry on the street.” The old man smiled at him and replied.
“Friend, now I do not need food, for I have been fed by your love. You
are the first person who has ever held my hand and spoken to me
lovingly.” This illustrates how compassion benefits both giver and
receiver.

Also,
compassion must of course eventually lead us to look for the roots of
poverty and racism and violence. Why in today’s world are two-thirds of
the population still starving? Why does such a huge percentage of our
time, money, and resources have to go for destruction. Compassion cannot
stoop with the symptoms, but must see the cause of the disease and seek
its cure. Each of us must ask himself, “Am I looking for the roots of
poverty and violence in myself and in the world? Am I dedicating myself
to the changes in myself and in the world that will bring about the
maximum well-being of all?”

Often
out of compassion, a time-honored custom has to be violated. In India,
monks are not supposed to touch women. Once when I was a young monk, I
lifted two women out of a window to rescue them from a burning house in
which they could have been burned to death. Many people criticized the
breaking of tradition; but in their criticism they failed to see the
meaning of compassion. In the nuclear age, custom must give way to
compassion for self as well as others for man to survive on this planet.

Our
compassion must extend also to the aged. You know in India we consider it
a privilege to take care of our old people. And they require as much love
and concern as do the children. You are feeble when you come into this
world, and often you are feeble when you go out of it. Parents are the
individuals whose life has been put closest to us. We must love and care
for them when they need our care. In this country I have found there is
much alienation toward the aged, and old people are suffering. Many of
them are ignored and even hated by their own children. But whether it is
for parents or strangers, we must have the heart of the mother, and seek
to help.

You can
have compassion for yourself also, but instead of blaming your misery on
others, see what you may be doing or not doing-to-cause it; and what you
can do to end it. In regard to your own suffering, have compassion for
yourself, but remember that calamities and disappointments which are
showered upon you can be truly a means to test your purity and strength.
And they may be the result of your former unkind actions.

All the
world’s great religions were born out of a confrontation with suffering.
Buddha, in spite of the luxury of the place in which he lived and his
father’s efforts to protect him from all negativity, one day was moved by
the sight of an old, sick, dying man. He left his family and, after a
long period of solitude, silence and meditation, he formulated the
principles of Buddhism. Christ, focusing more on the suffering caused by
“man’s inhumanity to man,” offered the world his teachings of: “Love your
neighbor.” And “Love your enemy. “Mahavir saw, beyond the walls of the
palace where he was brought up, the suffering prevalent in the world, and
taught ahimsa, relativity of thinking, limited possessions, and the law of
Karma.

However, each of you must respond to suffering in your own way: make your
own contribution to lessening the pain of the world. Only you can decide
how you can daily live Your reverence for life.

Now we
are ready to meditate . . . We are ready to open ourselves to the Light,
to become one with the Light. . . . .

Let us
enter meditation by concentrating on the sentence, “My heart is vibrating
with reverence for life. . . . . “

THOUGHTS

We must understand the dimension of the word compassion and how it
summons us to reflection, to compassion, to action.

Indifference to all but that which directly concerns our self-interest
is a form of violence. Compassion cannot flood the soul until we have
overcome indifference to the suffering of those around us and even of
those unknown to us

Let us meditate to discover how, in our own way, we can
lessen the pain of the world.